Test::File - Don't understand the docs very well

ghenry has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Dear Monks,
I am doing my first set of tests before I start writing my module code, and I am trying out Test::File
The docs say the format of the test is:

file_exists_ok( FILENAME [, NAME ] )

So I have a wee test:

#!/usr/bin/perl

use warnings;
use strict;
use Test::More tests => 1;
use Test::File;

my $filename = '/etc/doesnt_exist.conf';
my $name     = 'doesnt_exist.conf';
file_exists_ok( $filename [, $name ] );
[download]

But I get:

[root@dev1 perl]# perl test-file
1..1
Multidimensional syntax $filename [, $name ] not supported at test-fil
+e line 10.Global symbol "@filename" requires explicit package name at
+ test-file line 10.
syntax error at test-file line 10, near "[,"
Execution of test-file aborted due to compilation errors.
# Looks like your test died before it could output anything.
[download]

So abviously, the docs need to be changed to reflect the format?
So changing this to:

#!/usr/bin/perl

use warnings;
use strict;
use Test::More tests => 1;
use Test::File;

my $filename = '/etc/doesnt_exist.conf';
my $name     = 'doesnt_exist.conf';
file_exists_ok( $filename, [ $name ] );
[download]

It's works, as it can see it's not there, but I get:

[root@dev1 perl]# perl test-file
1..1
# File [/etc/doesnt_exist.conf] does not exist
Invalid value for shared scalar at /usr/lib/perl5/5.8.6/Test/Builder.p
+m line 319.
WHOA!  Somehow you got a different number of results than tests ran!
This should never happen!  Please contact the author immediately!
END failed--call queue aborted.
[download]

I have tested this with 5.8.0 and 5.8.6

Any ideas?
Thanks,
Gavin.

Walking the road to enlightenment... I found a penguin and a camel on the way.....
Fancy a yourname@perl.me.uk? Just ask!!!

Comment on Test::File - Don't understand the docs very well Select or Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Test::File - Don't understand the docs very well by castaway (Parson) on Sep 16, 2005 at 08:26 UTC
Yes. It's a convention in many programming docs to use `[ .. ]` to mean an optional parameter. So what that is telling you is, $filename is the first parameter, and you can use $name as the second if you like, but it's not required. So you need: `file_exists_ok( $filename);` [download] OR `file_exists_ok( $filename, $name );` [download] C.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: Test::File - Don't understand the docs very well by ghenry (Vicar) on Sep 16, 2005 at 08:33 UTC
Doh, what a n00b!!! Hopefully this will help some other dimwit like me ;-) Walking the road to enlightenment... I found a penguin and a camel on the way..... Fancy a yourname@perl.me.uk? Just ask!!!	[reply]